In yet another tale of Democrat politicians acting in what seems like quite a corrupt fashion, a Democratic state representative in the purple state of Georgia has been caught pilfering pandemic-era taxpayer funding, namely the emergency unemployment funding that was handed out to keep the economy afloat during the shutdown and its aftermath.
The Democratic politician who is facing this legal trouble over his allegedly corrupt and fraudulent behavior is Georgia State Representative Dexter Sharper (D-Valdosta). He was federally charged and arraigned for making false statements to obtain pandemic-era unemployment benefits.
Such is what the Department of Justice’s United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced in a January 30 press release about his arrest and charges, saying, “Dexter L. Sharper, a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, was charged today with making false statements to fraudulently obtain thousands of dollars of emergency pandemic unemployment assistance payments.”
Describing what the state representative allegedly did, the press release began by describing the program from which he allegedly stole, saying, “According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges, and other information presented in court: In 2020, in response to the forced closures of businesses and unprecedented economic hardship resulting from the COVID-19 emergency, the U.S. Congress created special unemployment compensation programs to provide cash assistance to individuals who lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Applicants had to provide a certification for every week for which they wished to claim benefits, attesting to whether they were actively seeking work for the week and the reason they were unemployed.”
Continuing, the press release got into his specific scheme, saying, “Sharper, while serving as the Georgia State Representative for District 177, which includes portions of Lowndes County, allegedly applied for unemployment assistance benefits for April 2020 through May 2021. In his initial application, he stated that he had only one employer, Dexter Sharper Party Rental, which had employed him for 40 hours per week for over seven years, but had not worked since March 13, 2020. Then, in 38 separate weekly certifications, he stated that had not worked or earned any wages, was actively looking for work, and had not refused any work.”
Noting that the claims were false, and what was really going on, the press release noted, “Contrary to those claims, Sharper was allegedly working and earning money from at least two—and sometimes three—jobs each week. He received at least $325 every week from the Georgia General Assembly for his position as Georgia State Representative. Sharper’s party rental business was operating and generating income of up to $2,231 of income per week. And Sharper was also collecting up to an additional $275 per week for work as a musician.”
Then, noting how much he managed to allegedly steal from taxpayers through all the false claims and statements, the press release noted, “As a result of the allegedly false initial application and 38 subsequent certifications, Sharper collected a total of $13,825 of unemployment assistance benefits to which he was not entitled.”
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Noting that two other Georgia state representatives are facing such charges, the same press release added, “Karen L. Bennett, Georgia State Representative for District 94 until she resigned on January 1, 2026, pleaded guilty on January 21, 2026, to federal charges of making false statements in connection with receiving $13,940 of pandemic unemployment benefits” and “Sharon Henderson, Georgia State Representative for District 113, was federally indicted on December 2, 2025, for theft of government funds and making false statements in connection with receiving $17,811 of pandemic unemployment benefits.”